1. Campbell K, Carpenter KL, Hashemi J, Espinosa S, Marsan S, Borg JS, Chang Z, Qiu Q, Vermeer S, Adler E, Tepper M, Egger HL, Baker JP, Sapiro G, Dawson G. {{Computer vision analysis captures atypical attention in toddlers with autism}}. {Autism};2018 (Mar 1):1362361318766247.
To demonstrate the capability of computer vision analysis to detect atypical orienting and attention behaviors in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. One hundered and four toddlers of 16-31 months old (mean = 22) participated in this study. Twenty-two of the toddlers had autism spectrum disorder and 82 had typical development or developmental delay. Toddlers watched video stimuli on a tablet while the built-in camera recorded their head movement. Computer vision analysis measured participants’ attention and orienting in response to name calls. Reliability of the computer vision analysis algorithm was tested against a human rater. Differences in behavior were analyzed between the autism spectrum disorder group and the comparison group. Reliability between computer vision analysis and human coding for orienting to name was excellent (intra-class coefficient 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.67-0.91). Only 8% of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder oriented to name calling on >1 trial, compared to 63% of toddlers in the comparison group (p = 0.002). Mean latency to orient was significantly longer for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (2.02 vs 1.06 s, p = 0.04). Sensitivity for autism spectrum disorder of atypical orienting was 96% and specificity was 38%. Older toddlers with autism spectrum disorder showed less attention to the videos overall (p = 0.03). Automated coding offers a reliable, quantitative method for detecting atypical social orienting and reduced sustained attention in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.
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2. Campion D, Ponzo P, Alessandria C, Saracco GM, Balzola F. {{Role of microbiota in the autism spectrum disorders}}. {Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol};2018 (Mar 30)
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) defines a set of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, along with repetitive patterns of behavior. Symptoms generally appear in the early developmental period and cause significant impairment in individual and social functioning. In recent years the increased prevalence of ASD, along with the evidence of a significant link between autism and gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances, raised a special interest in exploringi the reciprocal influences between gut and brain. Investigators highlighted the existence of a so-called « gut-brain axis », empowering the hypothesis that GI abnormalities could trigger neuropsychiatric symptoms in ASD. Intestinal microbiota is thought to play a pivotal role in gut and systemic homeostasis, in CNS development, as well as in behavioral modulation and recurrent microbial imbalances have been shown in gut microbiota of autistic people. In this review we analyze current knowledge about intestinal microbiota and the relevance and role of dysbiosis in ASD. The most accredited theories about gut-brain interaction will be reviewed, along with current scientific evidence supporting the relationship between microbial imbalances and impairment of neurodevelopment. Finally, we will focus on the results of different therapeutic approaches in this context: administration of pre- and probiotics, antibiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation and special diets and dietary supplements.
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3. Davidovitch M, Stein N, Koren G, Friedman BC. {{Deviations from Typical Developmental Trajectories Detectable at 9 Months of Age in Low Risk Children Later Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2018 (Mar 28)
This study was designed to track the developmental trajectory, during the first 24 months of life, of 335 low-risk infants later diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and identify early deviations observed in routine Well Care checkups. We compared their achievements to typically developing children and to children later diagnosed with non-autistic developmental impairments. The results show that in the first 6 months, the children with autism showed normal acquisition of milestones, whereas by 9 months of age they began to fail the language/communication, as well as motor items when compared to typical and delayed non-autistic children. Regular check-up visits may be useful in detecting early failure in achieving milestones, leading to earlier referral for further evaluation and treatment.
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4. Dawson-Squibb JJ, Davids EL, de Vries PJ. {{Scoping the evidence for EarlyBird and EarlyBird Plus, two United Kingdom-developed parent education training programmes for autism spectrum disorder}}. {Autism};2018 (Mar 1):1362361318760295.
EarlyBird and EarlyBird Plus are parent education and training programmes designed by the UK National Autistic Society in 1997 and 2003, having been delivered to more than 27,000 families in 14 countries. These group-based programmes aim to (1) support parents immediately after diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, (2) empower parents, encouraging a positive perception of their child’s autism spectrum disorder and (3) help parents establish good practice. In the absence of any previous comprehensive review, we performed a scoping review of all peer-reviewed publications on EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus. A search was conducted between February and June 2016 using EbscoHost, Sabinet, SAGE Journals, Directory of Open Access Journals, BioMed Central, Scopus, ScienceDirect and grey literature. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts for inclusion. In total, 18 articles were identified: 16 from the United Kingdom and 2 from New Zealand. We reviewed the context, study populations, design, outcome measures, whether focus was on parental perception, parental change or child changes and programme feasibility. Strong parental support for the acceptability but lower level evidence of efficacy of EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus was found. Future research should consider randomised controlled trials. There is no research on EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus in low-resource settings; therefore, we recommend broader feasibility evaluation of EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus including accessibility, cultural appropriateness and scalability.
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5. Diaz J, Cosbey J. {{A Systematic Review of Caregiver-Implemented Mealtime Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {OTJR (Thorofare N J)};2018 (Mar 1):1539449218765459.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently have difficult mealtimes. A systematic review analyzed current evidence relevant to occupational therapy (OT) and mealtime interventions (a) for children with ASD, (b) occurring in the natural contexts, and (c) with parents/caregivers as interventionists. Database search identified 13 relevant articles. Each article was reviewed for practicality of implementation through a modified Feasibility, Appropriateness, Meaningfulness and Effectiveness (FAME) scale and for quality of research design using three measures specifically designed for single-case experimental design research. The majority of articles reviewed demonstrated rigorous research design with strong evidence for the effectiveness of caregiver-implemented interventions. Six intervention techniques were identified, with all studies using a reinforcement strategy and at least one other technique. This review identifies evidence-based practices for OTs to support children with ASD and their families within the natural co-occupation of mealtimes. Effective techniques and recommendations for practice are included.
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6. Dickter CL, Burk JA, Fleckenstein K, Kozikowski CT. {{Autistic traits and social anxiety predict differential performance on social cognitive tasks in typically developing young adults}}. {PLoS One};2018;13(3):e0195239.
The current work examined the unique contribution that autistic traits and social anxiety have on tasks examining attention and emotion processing. In Study 1, 119 typically-developing college students completed a flanker task assessing the control of attention to target faces and away from distracting faces during emotion identification. In Study 2, 208 typically-developing college students performed a visual search task which required identification of whether a series of 8 or 16 emotional faces depicted the same or different emotions. Participants with more self-reported autistic traits performed more slowly on the flanker task in Study 1 than those with fewer autistic traits when stimuli depicted complex emotions. In Study 2, participants higher in social anxiety performed less accurately on trials showing all complex faces; participants with autistic traits showed no differences. These studies suggest that traits related to autism and to social anxiety differentially impact social cognitive processing.
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7. Dong Q, Liu Q, Li R, Wang A, Bu Q, Wang KH, Chang Q. {{Mechanism and consequence of abnormal calcium homeostasis in Rett syndrome astrocytes}}. {Elife};2018 (Mar 29);7
Astrocytes play an important role in Rett syndrome (RTT) disease progression. Although the non-cell-autonomous effect of RTT astrocytes on neurons was documented, cell-autonomous phenotypes and mechanisms within RTT astrocytes are not well understood. We report that spontaneous calcium activity is abnormal in RTT astrocytes in vitro, in situ, and in vivo. Such abnormal calcium activity is mediated by calcium overload in the endoplasmic reticulum caused by abnormal store operated calcium entry, which is in part dependent on elevated expression of TRPC4. Furthermore, the abnormal calcium activity leads to excessive activation of extrasynaptic NMDA receptors (eNMDARs) on neighboring neurons and increased network excitability in Mecp2 knockout mice. Finally, both the abnormal astrocytic calcium activity and the excessive activation of eNMDARs are caused by Mecp2 deletion in astrocytes in vivo. Our findings provide evidence that abnormal calcium homeostasis is a key cell-autonomous phenotype in RTT astrocytes, and reveal its mechanism and consequence.
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8. Euser AM, Reichart CG, van Balkom IDC. {{Excipient of medication the probable cause of urticaria in a boy with autism}}. {Ther Adv Drug Saf};2017 (Oct);8(10):329-332.
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9. Evans SC, Boan AD, Bradley C, Carpenter LA. {{Sex/Gender Differences in Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Evidence-Based Assessment}}. {J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol};2018 (Mar 30):1-15.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed more often in boys than in girls; however, little is known about the nature of this sex/gender discrepancy or how it relates to diagnostic assessment practices. This study examined the performance of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) in screening for ASD among boys and girls. Data were drawn from the South Carolina Children’s Educational Surveillance Study, a population-based study of ASD prevalence among children 8-10 years of age. Analyses were conducted using SCQ data from 3,520 children, with direct assessment data from 272 with elevated SCQ scores. A bifactor model based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’s (5th ed.) two ASD symptom domains fit the data well and performed slightly better for girls. In the general population sample, girls exhibited fewer social communication/interaction and restricted-repetitive behavior symptoms than boys. In the direct assessment sample, however, girls with ASD showed greater impairment in social communication/interaction than boys with ASD. Items pertaining to social communication/interaction problems at ages 4-5 were among the most diagnostically efficient overall and particularly for girls. Similarly, receiver operating characteristic analyses suggested that the SCQ performs adequately among boys and well among girls. Results support the use of the SCQ in screening for ASD but do not indicate sex/gender-specific cutoffs. Girls with ASD may exhibit pronounced intraindividual deficits in social communication/interaction compared to male peers with ASD and female peers without ASD. Although more research is needed, careful attention to social communication/interaction deficits around 4-5 years of age may be especially useful for assessing ASD in girls.
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10. Fujino H, Saito T, Matsumura T, Shibata S, Iwata Y, Fujimura H, Imura O. {{Autism spectrum disorders are prevalent among patients with dystrophinopathies}}. {Neurol Sci};2018 (Mar 28)
Recent studies have reported a higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorders among patients with dystrophinopathies. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among those with dystrophinopathies. The possible role of dystrophin isoforms in patients was also explored. Fifty-six patients recruited from Toneyama National Hospital were included in this study (mean age = 12.9 years, SD = 5.2 years). Autistic symptoms were evaluated using the Pervasive Developmental Disorders/Autism Spectrum Disorders Rating Scale (PARS), a clinician rating scale. Eleven patients (19.6%; 95% confidence interval 10.2-32.4) met the criteria for ASD based on their PARS scores. Patients were separated into two groups based on the cumulative loss of dystrophin isoforms predicted from the mutation location. The prevalence of ASD was examined between these groups. Infantile and current autistic symptoms did not differ between the groups, except on one subscale of the PARS. This study revealed that there was a high prevalence of ASD in patients with dystrophinopathies.
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11. Gordon-Lipkin E, Marvin AR, Law JK, Lipkin PH. {{Anxiety and Mood Disorder in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD}}. {Pediatrics};2018 (Mar 30)
OBJECTIVES: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occur. Understanding the endophenotype of children with both ASD and ADHD may impact clinical management. In this study, we compare the comorbidity of anxiety and mood disorders in children with ASD, with and without ADHD. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of children with ASD who were enrolled in the Interactive Autism Network, an Internet-mediated, parent-report, autism research registry. Children ages 6 to 17 years with a parent-reported, professional, and questionnaire-verified diagnosis of ASD were included. Data were extracted regarding parent-reported diagnosis and/or treatment of ADHD, anxiety disorder, and mood disorder. ASD severity was measured by using Social Responsiveness Scale total raw scores. RESULTS: There were 3319 children who met inclusion criteria. Of these, 1503 (45.3%) had ADHD. Comorbid ADHD increased with age (P < .001) and was associated with increased ASD severity (P < .001). A generalized linear model revealed that children with ASD and ADHD had an increased risk of anxiety disorder (adjusted relative risk 2.20; 95% confidence interval 1.97-2.46) and mood disorder (adjusted relative risk 2.72; 95% confidence interval 2.28-3.24) compared with children with ASD alone. Increasing age was the most significant contributor to the presence of anxiety disorder and mood disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Co-occurrence of ADHD is common in children with ASD. Children with both ASD and ADHD have an increased risk of anxiety and mood disorders. Physicians who care for children with ASD should be aware of the coexistence of these treatable conditions. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
12. Grossberg S, Kishnan D. {{Neural Dynamics of Autistic Repetitive Behaviors and Fragile X Syndrome: Basal Ganglia Movement Gating and mGluR-Modulated Adaptively Timed Learning}}. {Front Psychol};2018;9:269.
This article develops the iSTART neural model that proposes how specific imbalances in cognitive, emotional, timing, and motor processes that involve brain regions like prefrontal cortex, temporal cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and cerebellum may interact together to cause behavioral symptoms of autism. These imbalances include underaroused emotional depression in the amygdala/hypothalamus, learning of hyperspecific recognition categories that help to cause narrowly focused attention in temporal and prefrontal cortices, and breakdowns of adaptively timed motivated attention and motor circuits in the hippocampus and cerebellum. The article expands the model’s explanatory range by, first, explaining recent data about Fragile X syndrome (FXS), mGluR, and trace conditioning; and, second, by explaining distinct causes of stereotyped behaviors in individuals with autism. Some of these stereotyped behaviors, such as an insistence on sameness and circumscribed interests, may result from imbalances in the cognitive and emotional circuits that iSTART models. These behaviors may be ameliorated by operant conditioning methods. Other stereotyped behaviors, such as repetitive motor behaviors, may result from imbalances in how the direct and indirect pathways of the basal ganglia open or close movement gates, respectively. These repetitive behaviors may be ameliorated by drugs that augment D2 dopamine receptor responses or reduce D1 dopamine receptor responses. The article also notes the ubiquitous role of gating by basal ganglia loops in regulating all the functions that iSTART models.
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13. Hart LA, Thigpen AP, Willits NH, Lyons LA, Hertz-Picciotto I, Hart BL. {{Affectionate Interactions of Cats with Children Having Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Front Vet Sci};2018;5:39.
Mental and physical benefits of dogs have been reported for adults and children with special needs, but less is known about benefits of cats for children. A cat that can be held by a child could provide important therapeutic companionship for children with severe or less severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who otherwise may lack prosocial behaviors. Because relatively little is known about the behavior of cats around children, we conducted this study. Phase 1 gathered web-survey data from families having an adult cat and a child with ASD (n = 64). In Phase 2, there were direct telephone interviews of parents having a child with severe ASD (n = 16) or less severe ASD (n = 11), or typical development (n = 17). From the Phase 1 web survey of families with ASD children (full range of severities), affectionate interactions of the cats with children were common. Most parents with ASD children volunteered positive comments regarding the cat, such as calming the child, being a soothing protector or a guardian. In the interviews in Phase 2, for all three groups, most parents characterized cats as at least moderately affectionate toward the child. However, cats living with severe ASD children were reported to exhibit less affection than those living with typically developing children or children with less severe ASD. A minority of cats in each group showed some aggression to the specified child; this was not elevated with ASD children. Responses suggested that the cats adopted as kittens were more affectionate and less aggressive to all categories of children than those adopted as adults. Overall, participants reported that ASD children’s behaviors indicated that they valued the relationship with the cat, similar to typically developing children, pointing to the importance and potential usefulness of selecting affectionate and compatible cats for ASD children.
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14. Miller EK, Vila-Casademunt A, Neuman BJ, Sciubba DM, Kebaish KM, Smith JS, Alanay A, Acaroglu ER, Kleinstuck F, Obeid I, Sanchez Perez-Grueso FJ, Carreon LY, Schwab FJ, Bess S, Scheer JK, Lafage V, Shaffrey CI, Pellise F, Ames CP. {{External validation of the adult spinal deformity (ASD) frailty index (ASD-FI)}}. {Eur Spine J};2018 (Mar 30)
PURPOSE: To assess the ability of the recently developed adult spinal deformity frailty index (ASD-FI) to predict odds of perioperative complications, odds of reoperation, and length of hospital stay after adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery using a database other than the one used to create the index. METHODS: We used the ASD-FI to calculate frailty scores for 266 ASD patients who had minimum postoperative follow-up of 2 years in the European Spine Study Group (ESSG) database. Patients were enrolled from 2012 through 2013. Using ASD-FI scores, we categorized patients as not frail (NF) (< 0.3 points), frail (0.3-0.5 points), or severely frail (SF) (> 0.5 points). Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for preoperative and surgical factors such as operative time and blood loss, was performed to determine the relationship between ASD-FI category and odds of major complications, odds of reoperation, and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: We categorized 135 patients (51%) as NF, 90 patients (34%) as frail, and 41 patients (15%) as SF. Overall mean ASD-FI score was 0.29 (range 0-0.8). The adjusted odds of experiencing a major intraoperative or postoperative complication (OR 4.5, 95% CI 2.0-10) or having a reoperation (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.7-8.9) were higher for SF patients compared with NF patients. Mean hospital stay was 2.1 times longer (95% CI 1.8-2.4) for SF patients compared with NF patients. CONCLUSIONS: Greater patient frailty, as measured by the ASD-FI, is associated with longer hospital stays and greater odds of major complications and reoperation. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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15. Nguyen TTM, Mahida SD, Smith-Hicks C, Campeau PM. {{A PIGH mutation leading to GPI deficiency is associated with developmental delay and autism}}. {Hum Mutat};2018 (Mar 30)
We identified an individual with a homozygous missense variant (p.Ser103Pro) in a conserved residue of the GPI biosynthesis gene PIGH. This gene encodes an essential component of the phosphatidylinositol N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase complex, in the first step of the biosynthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol, a glycolipid anchor added to more than one hundred human proteins, several being critical for embryogenesis and neurological functions. The affected individual had hypotonia, moderate developmental delay, and autism. Unlike other reported individuals with GPI deficiency, the proband did not have epilepsy, however, he did have two episodes of febrile seizures. He had normal alkaline phosphatase and no brachytelephalangy. Upon analysis of the surface expression of GPI-anchored proteins on granulocytes, he was demonstrated to have a GPI deficiency. This suggest that PIGH mutations may cause a syndrome with developmental delay and autism, but without an epileptic encephalopathy, and should increase the awareness of the potentially deleterious nature of bi-allelic variants in this gene. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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16. Pastor-Cerezuela G, Tordera Yllescas JC, Gonzalez-Sala F, Montagut-Asuncion M, Fernandez-Andres MI. {{Comprehension of Generalized Conversational Implicatures by Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Front Psychol};2018;9:272.
This study evaluates the comprehension of generalized conversational implicatures (GCI) in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), using a GCI test constructed based on the Levinson model, which distinguishes between three types of implicatures: type Q (or scalar: « what is not referred to does not occur »); type I (« by default, it is not necessary to say what can be assumed »); and type M (« if someone is expressing something in a not very simple or marked way, it is because s/he is describing a situation that is not very typical, frequent, or prototypical »). In addition to the ASD group (n = 22), two comparison groups were utilized: a group matched on chronological age with the ASD group, but with a higher linguistic age (TCD group, n = 22), and a group matched on linguistic age with the ASD group, but with a lower chronological age (TLD group, n = 22). In all cases, linguistic age was assessed with the Peabody test. The performance of the three groups on the GCI test was compared (overall and on each type of implicature), and performance on the three types of implicature was compared within each group. The ASD group obtained worse performance than the other two groups, both overall and for each implicature type, without also obtaining differences in performance on the three implicature types. The TCD group obtained better performance than the TLD group on overall performance, but not on each implicature type, and both groups obtained lower performance on the type M heuristics than on the type I. Based on these results, the children with ASD in our study presented limitations in the comprehension of the three types of GCI, but it was not possible to obtain evidence for an inferential continuum of the three types of GCI. However, in the two typical development groups, this evidence was obtained, leading us to propose an inferential continuum model based on the different levels of dependence on the context of each of the three types of implicatures, with type M implicatures being more contextually dependent.
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17. Rashid B, Blanken LME, Muetzel RL, Miller R, Damaraju E, Arbabshirani MR, Erhardt EB, Verhulst FC, van der Lugt A, Jaddoe VWV, Tiemeier H, White T, Calhoun V. {{Connectivity dynamics in typical development and its relationship to autistic traits and autism spectrum disorder}}. {Hum Brain Mapp};2018 (Mar 30)
Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have provided significant insights into developmental trajectories of human brain function. Characterizations of typical neurodevelopment provide a framework for understanding altered neurodevelopment, including differences in brain function related to developmental disorders and psychopathology. Historically, most functional connectivity studies of typical and atypical development operate under the assumption that connectivity remains static over time. We hypothesized that relaxing stationarity assumptions would reveal novel features of both typical brain development related to children on the autism spectrum. We employed a « chronnectomic » (recurring, time-varying patterns of connectivity) approach to evaluate transient states of connectivity using resting-state functional MRI in a population-based sample of 774 6- to 10-year-old children. Dynamic connectivity was evaluated using a sliding-window approach, and revealed four transient states. Internetwork connectivity increased with age in modularized dynamic states, illustrating an important pattern of connectivity in the developing brain. Furthermore, we demonstrated that higher levels of autistic traits and ASD diagnosis were associated with longer dwell times in a globally disconnected state. These results provide a roadmap to the chronnectomic organization of the developing brain and suggest that characteristics of functional brain connectivity are related to children on the autism spectrum.
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18. Rysstad AL, Pedersen AV. {{There Are Indeed More Left-Handers Within the Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared with in the General Population, but the Many Mixed-Handers Is the More Interesting Finding}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2018 (Mar 28)
Letter to the editor in response to Howard Kushner’s claims that our data on non-right-handedness within the autism spectrum disorder were organized, by sleight of hand, so they would give a significant result that would support our desired conclusion. Here, we have re-categorized our data, and present evidence that there are indeed more left-handers within the ASD. Furthermore, we refute claims that we have misinterpreted our results in order to conclude about a causal link between left-handedness and ASD, and highlight our original suggestion that mixed-handedness, more specifically unclear handedness, is the bigger problem, and that our findings of a total 60% non-right-handedness was the more interesting finding.
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19. Talge NM, Tudor BM, Kileny PR. {{Click-evoked auditory brainstem responses and autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analytic review}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Mar 30)
Behavior does not differentiate ASD risk prior to 12 months of age, but biomarkers may inform risk before symptoms emerge. Click-evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) may be worth consideration due to their measurement properties (noninvasiveness; reliability) and conceptual features (well-characterized neural generators), but participant characteristics and assessment protocols vary considerably across studies. Our goal is to perform a meta-analysis of the association between ABRs and ASD. Following an electronic database search (PubMed, Medline, PsycInfo, PsycArticles), we included papers that were written in English, included ASD and typically-developing (TD) groups, and reported the information needed to calculate standardized mean differences (Hedges’s g) for at least one ABR latency component (I, III, V, I-III, III-V, I-V). We weighted and averaged effect sizes across conditions and subsets of participants to yield one estimate per component per study. We then performed random-effects regressions to generate component-specific estimates. ASD was associated with longer ABR latencies for Waves III (g = 0.5, 95% CI 0.1, 0.9), V (g = 0.7, 95% CI 0.3, 1.1), I-III (g = 0.7, 95% CI 0.2, 1.2), and I-V (g = 0.6, 95% CI 0.2, 1.0). All components showed significant heterogeneity. Associations were strongest among participants Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
20. Vogan VM, Morgan BR, Smith ML, Taylor MJ. {{Functional changes during visuo-spatial working memory in autism spectrum disorder: 2-year longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study}}. {Autism};2018 (Mar 1):1362361318766572.
This study examined functional changes longitudinally over 2 years in neural correlates associated with working memory in youth with and without autism spectrum disorder, and the impact of increasing cognitive load. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a visuo-spatial 1-back task with four levels of difficulty. A total of 14 children with autism spectrum disorder and 15 typically developing children (ages 7-13) were included at baseline and followed up approximately 2 years later. Despite similar task performance between groups, differences were evident in the developmental trajectories of neural responses. Typically developing children showed greater load-dependent activation which intensified over time in the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes and the right fusiform gyrus, compared to those with autism spectrum disorder. Children with autism spectrum disorder showed minimal age-related changes in load-dependent activation, but greater longitudinal load-dependent deactivation in default mode network compared to typically developing children. Results suggest inadequate modulation of neural activity with increasing cognitive demands in children with autism spectrum disorder, which does not mature into adolescence, unlike their typically developing peers. Diminished ability for children with autism spectrum disorder to modulate neural activity during this period of maturation suggests that they may be more vulnerable to the increasing complexity of social and academic demands as they progress through adolescence than their peers.
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21. Wu J, Liu DJ, Shou XJ, Zhang JS, Meng FC, Liu YQ, Han SP, Zhang R, Jia JZ, Wang JY, Han JS. {{Chinese children with autism: A multiple chemical elements profile in erythrocytes}}. {Autism Res};2018 (Mar 30)
Several lines of evidence suggested that abnormal levels of certain chemical elements may contribute to the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The present work aimed to investigate the multiple chemical elements profile in the erythrocytes of autistic versus typically developing children (TDC) of China. Analyses were carried out to explore the possible association between levels of elements and the risk as well as the severity of ASD. Erythrocyte levels of 11 elements (32%) among 34 detected elements in autistic group were significantly different from those in the TDC group. To our knowledge, this is the first study which compared the levels of rare earth elements in erythrocytes between children with or without ASD. Five elements including Pb, Na, Ca, Sb, and La are associated with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) total score. Also, a series of tendencies were found in this research which was believed to affect auditory response, taste, smell, and touch, as well as fear or nervousness. It can be concluded that Chinese autistic children suffer from multi-chemical element imbalances which involves a complex combination of genetic and environmental factors. The results showed a significant correlation between abnormal levels of several chemical elements and the severity of the autistic syndrome. LAY SUMMARY: It is suggested that abnormal levels of some chemical elements may contribute to the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this work, the impact of element imbalances on the risk and severity of ASD was investigated, focusing on the analysis of abnormal levels of the multi-chemical elements profile in erythrocytes compared with typically developing children. Furthermore, the results showed a significant correlation between abnormal levels of several chemical elements and the severity of the autistic syndrome. Autism Res 2018. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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22. Zantinge G, van Rijn S, Stockmann L, Swaab H. {{Concordance between physiological arousal and emotion expression during fear in young children with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Autism};2018 (Mar 1):1362361318766439.
This study aimed to measure emotional expression and physiological arousal in response to fear in 21 children with autism spectrum disorders (43-75 months) and 45 typically developing children (41-81 months). Expressions of facial and bodily fear and heart rate arousal were simultaneously measured in response to a remote controlled robot (Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery). Heart rate analyses revealed a main effect of task from baseline to fear ( p < 0.001, [Formula: see text]), no interaction effect and no effect for group. In addition, children with autism spectrum disorder showed intact facial and bodily expressions of fearful affect compared to typically developing children. With regard to the relationship between expression and arousal, the results provided evidence for concordance between expression and arousal in typically developing children ( r = 0.45, n = 45, p < 0.01). For children with autism spectrum disorder, no significant correlation was found ( r = 0.20, n = 21, p = 0.38). A moderation analysis revealed no significant interaction between expression and arousal for children with and without autism spectrum disorder ( F(1, 62) = 1.23, p = 0.27, [Formula: see text]), which might be the result of limited power. The current results give reason to further study concordance between expression and arousal in early autism spectrum disorder. Discordance might significantly impact social functioning and is an important topic in light of both early identification and treatment. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
